Reflection Paper Accounting Essay

Accounting to me is challenge as a whole; it is a good subject to learn because accounting knowledge is always in demand. So far, I am on a good path learning the basics of accounting. I’ve learned how accounting affects business and how it allows organizations to identify cash inflows and outflows. This accounting course provided me a great opportunity to understand the various important aspects of accounting that I believe will be helpful in my future practical life. I need to begin my own particular business in future for that it’s important to have great knowledge of Financial and Managerial Accounting. This course has helped me to comprehend numerous essential ideas of accounting. This knowledge is going to help me to comprehend and investigate financial statements and will empower me to take great business choices in view of accounting data. The following is the rundown of what I have realized and can detract from this course. Chapter 01 After reading the first chapter, I learned that who are the stakeholders or users of the accounting information. I get found out about different organizations like AICPA, FASB and so on impacting the foundation of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for businesses or governmental organizations. I comprehend the significance of morals and accounting gauges like IFRS. While learning different sort of business I become more acquainted with vital idea of accounting i.e. the business entity idea. Most critical thing I adapted in this chapter is accounting ideas and principles. I get to Introduced to assets, liabilities, stock holders equity and imperative financial statements. Chapter 02 Chapter 02 gave insights about strides in recording posting the effects of the business transactions. They are different assets and liabilities records utilized for recoding the exchange as a part of journal, t-records and ledger. Here I learned different strides of accounting cycle beginning from breaking down the transactions by looking at source documents. I found out about get ready trial balance from ledger and amending trial balance errors. Double-entry procedure is utilized which oblige that every exchange be recorded by an entry that has equivalent debits and credits. Resource  records will regularly have charge balances and obligation records will typically have credit balances. I comprehend that records are of two sorts genuine (Balance Sheet accounts) & ostensible (income statement accounts). Chapter 03 After completing the Chapter 03, I am able to understand the adjusting processes of the financial statements for given period in light of trial balance or ledger entries. Here I adapted imperative idea of accrual basis of accounting. In accrual basis of accounting revenues are perceived when they are earned and expenses are perceived when they are really caused to deliver income. Where as in cash basis of revenues and expenses are perceived when cash is gotten and paid separately. Records are balanced so that income statement reports fitting income or cost and to make the balance sheet report the best possible resource or risk. Matching rule obliges that matching of expenses and revenues to introduce a precise photo of the profitability of a business. Adjusting entries are of two sorts deferred and gathered things. In the wake of passing adjusting entries balanced trial balance is readied. Chapter 4 Chapter 04 explained about use of work sheet facilitate the completion of the accounting cycle. The work sheet is a columnar sheet of paper or a computer spreadsheet on which accountants summarize information needed to make the adjusting and closing entries and to prepare the financial statements. Important Steps in competing accounting cycles are preparing adjusted trial balance after posting adjustment entries, Extend adjusted balances of from the Adjusted Trial Balance columns to the Income statement, Statement of retained earnings and Balance sheet. Here I learn important ratios i.e. current ratio and debt ratio. Current ratio specifies company’s ability to pay its short-term obligations. Chapter 05 In chapter 05, I learned different imperative parts of merchandise transactions and there recording. I found out about contra accounts Sales Returns and Allowances account, Sales Discounts account, purchase returns and Allowances account and Purchase Discounts account. Two sorts of  inventory processed took after i.e. perpetual inventory system and periodic inventory technique both having their own particular benefits and negative marks and ought to be utilized according to the need of specific business. Presently computerization as encouraged numerous firms to utilize perpetual inventory method for instance it has get to be economical for some retail locations to utilize perpetual inventory methodology notwithstanding for products of low unit value, for example, goods. Chapter 06 Chapter 06 discusses the diverse methods of inventory accounting i.e. FIFO method, LIFO method and Average cost method. All have diverse merits and negative marks under distinctive situations. For e.g. the merits of FIFO methods are-(1) Easy application, (2) the expected flow of costs relates with the ordinary physical flow of goods and (3) the balance sheet sum for inventory is liable to surmise the current market and so on. Burdens of FIFO can be – amid continually rising prices FIFO can offer ascent to paper profits. Amid times of rising prices, FIFO makes higher net income since the costs charged to cost of goods sold are lower. However LIFO expect that the costs of the latest purchases are the first costs charged to cost of goods sold. Net income is generally lower under LIFO since the costs charged to cost of goods sold are higher because of inflation. Chapter 07 Chapter 07 underlines the significance of having effective internal controls in every business. Inability to implement adequate internal controls can bring about frauds or robberies. Organizations ensure their benefits by different internal control procedures like – segregating employee duties, assigning specific duties to each employee, rotating employee job assignments, and using mechanical devices etc. Five components of internal control are Control environment, Risk assessment, Control activities, Information and communication and Monitoring. Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed. The Act was passed as one aftereffect of the huge misfortunes to the employees and investors from accounting fraud circumstances including organizations, for example, Enron and WorldCom. I figure out how to build up internal control through control of cash receipts and cash distributions, fitting utilization of the bank checking account, readiness of the bank reconciliation, and protection of petty cash funds. Conclusion Accounting is an important factor in any business; large or small. If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know the financial health of your business. In later chapters I found out about different sort fixed assets like Property, Plant & equipment and depreciation methods like Straight-line method, units-of-production method and double-Accelerated declining-balance (DDB) method and so forth. Depreciation is the measure of plant resource cost distributed to every accounting period profiting from the plant resource’s utilization. Depreciation is a procedure of portion, not valuation. Land is considered to have an unlimited life and is in this way not depreciable. On the other hand, land improvements brief landscaping, parking lots and so on are connections to the land they have limited lives and thusly are depreciable. For Natural resources rather than depreciation we utilize consumption. Consumption is the fatigue that outcomes from the physical evacuation of a piece of a natural asset. While for intangible assets Amortization is utilized. Amortization is the systematic write-off of the cost of an intangible resource for cost. Goodwill is an intangible value connected to a business, confirm by the capacity to gain preferable return on investment over that earned by competitors in the same industry. I struggle with the accrual accounting only because I have never used this method on either a personal or business related level. In fact, this accounting course made me capable of establishing my own business.

Ethics and Behaviour in War-related Activity Essay

The use of military force, whether within a country or against a foreign target, is guided by two prominent principles. Jus ad bellum (right toward war) helps in determining whether the situation justifies a military response or whether there exist non-violent alternatives. Jus in bello governs the execution of military operations at whose heart are discrimination and proportionality. Military attacks should be aimed at the right targets and civilian deaths should be avoided as much as possible. The weapons or force used in the attack should also be proportionate to the threat, so that it would be unethical to destroy a whole city if the aim was to eliminate a dozen terrorists hiding in one building (Cook, 2001). Many wars, and particularly the ongoing ‘War Against Terror’ have seriously challenged the principles of warfare, forcing the U. S. troops to use what has been described as excessive force against suspected enemy combatants and many civilians. This paper sheds light on conditions which justify such behaviour in war. Justification for aggressive behaviour in the War Against Terror Acts of terrorism are perpetrated by individuals or groups who hold hard-line ethnic, cultural, or religious positions, and who obey no national or international war agreements or principles. Terrorists largely target civilians and civilian structures with the aim of causing indiscriminate harm and violence. Combat troops participating in the war against anti-US hardliners in Iraq and Afghanistan have been accused of flouting ethics of war for engaging in activities which have been regarded as too aggressive and unethical. It is important to note that members of terrorist cells or groups are not state agents and are mostly non-uniformed, making it difficult to distinguish them from civilians. In order to enjoy the protection ideally accorded to civilians, the combatants hide among civilians. When U. S. troops capture a suspect, they are forced to use force to get information from the suspect as they have no other way of telling whether the suspect is actually a terrorist or not. In societies where combatants or terrorists hide among civilians and hurt the same civilians, and others elsewhere, use of force is justified â€Å"primarily to remove dangerous people from society (domestic or international)†¦and to send a message to other potential criminals that such behavior will not be tolerated† (Litchenberg, 2001). The aim of the war on terror is not much to apprehend and try perpetrators in law courts as to directly eliminate as many terrorists as possible (Cook, 2001). The fact that there have not been any other major terrorist attacks in the U. S. since 2001 suggests that the country has made some achievements in deterring such attacks, thereby justifying the means used. Terrorist operations are funded from many sources, among them legitimate governments. While many of the sponsoring organizations are known, there exists the serious difficulty of proving in a court of law that these individuals, groups and governments actually fund and harbour terrorists. When such suspects are captured, military topguns appreciate the difficulty of proving the association between such people and terrorists in a court of law yet know that releasing the suspects allows them to support more terrorist activities in future. Such situations necessitate the indefinite incarceration of suspects in such places as the Abu Ghraib and the Guantanamo Bay where the military, and not the US law reigns supreme. Although such confinement may be deemed unethical, it justifies the end of ensuring that the suspects are not released to sponsor more crimes against innocent civilians. Conclusion. The U. S. campaign against terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq has been unlike many wars before. The U. S. and her allies are engaged, not in retaliatory military action but in pre-emptive military crusade. The circumstances surrounding the war have driven the combat troops to take actions which have been regarded as unethical. However, careful analysis of the situation in the two countries, and the behaviour and operations of the terrorists reveals that the troops have no option but to take the same actions if they hope to win the war against terrorists. That terrorists follow no ethical codes strengthens the argument for such behaviour among the anti-terrorist troops. References Cook, M. (2001). Ethical Issues in Counterterrorism Warfare. US Army War College. Retrieved March 26, 2010, from http://ethics. sandiego. edu/Resources/PhilForum/Terrorism/Cook. html Litchenberg, J. (2001). The Ethics of Retaliation. Philosophy & Public Policy Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 4: pp 4-8.

Risk Management Week 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk Management Week 4 - Essay Example However, business enterprises must be aware of possible risk factors in respect to data integrity, data availability, and data disposal while outsourcing data storage to external providers. Service providers need to manage the data of several businesses, and hence they might host all these data on the same storage server. Under this circumstance, the organization must ensure that its data are not mixed with others’ data and are separated by the application of proper virtualization software so as to enhance data integrity. As Kaur (2007) points out, timely data availability often becomes a challenge while outsourcing data storage to external parties. In order to address this issue, the organization must clearly prioritize its data availability requirements so that the service provider can properly place the data on the server (p. 110). Finally, in order to improve data security business houses must make sure that external service providers no longer store the unwanted or expire d data. When hiring an enterprise service provider for processing information system applications including payroll, workforce management, and sales order taking, organizations actually put a part of their operations in the hands of someone else. If the service provider is not trustworthy, this business practice will dreadfully affect even the survival of the firm. There are many rules and regulations governing the operations of enterprise service providers. Therefore, prior to contracting out a business function, a firm must ensure that the chosen service provider strictly adheres to such rules and regulations. In addition, it is good for companies to choose enterprise service providers who have a strong reputation for their previous business dealings. Experts suggest that an extensive research would assist firms to identify a reliable service provider in this

Managing the United Kingdom Health Service Essay

Managing the United Kingdom Health Service - Essay Example This has been totally missing from the management at NHS. Management is can be defined both as art and science. It is the art of bringing out efficiency of people and making them more effective than they would have been with you. There are four basic pillars: plan, organize, direct, and monitor. The basic role of a manager is to make the staff more effective. Making them do work more efficiently than they are doing presently. If you add value to your staff's work, you are a successful manager. However, in NHS, managers are mere implementers who have no active decision making power. They merely implement the rules and regulations dictated by the Government. There is no way that they can add value to their or their staff's work. The managers at NHS feel that their role is unrecognised by patients, colleagues, the public and the government. Managers at NHS have less autonomy and less involvement in key decision making than their staff assume. And they are subjected to increasing control. Without a plan you will never succeed. If you happen to make it to the goal, it will have been by luck or chance and is not repeatable. You may make it as a flash-in-the-pan, an overnight sensation, but you will never have the record of accomplishment of accomplishments of which success is made. This important element of effective management is missing at NHS. Infact the organisation lacks serious planning and focus. As a result, the quality of services has been detortiating and ultimately the managers are planned by both government as well as public for inefficient services even though they have no power to run the organisation with a vision of their own. A study reveal that the notion of management had become divorced from clinical practice, even though many managers were doctors or nurses who had taken on the role to try to make a difference. To them, what was now called management was just an extension of the profession. Organize Organising and priortising work to ensure smooth, timely as well as quality deliveries and services form the core of good management. The lack of proper management results in poor organisation and prioritisation of work at NHS. Direct Directing your subordinates not as you are directing them but as if you are guiding them how to perform their specific job role. I like to think of this part like conducting an orchestra. Everyone in the orchestra has the music in front of them. They know which section is playing which piece and when. Now you need only to tap the podium lightly with your

ESSAY/ ARGUMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

/ ARGUMENT - Essay Example Money matters are the most widely discussed subjects around the world, not to mention a most sensitive one that can cause even siblings to battle among themselves. Politicians talking about money, especially not their own money but the citizenry’s might be most hated and controversial and this makes imposing taxes on people difficult. This paper discusses the implementation of taxes in the eyes of Christie, the real problem behind taxation and the beneficiaries of taxation. Labor unions and laborers may not consider it humane when a cut is imposed on their salaries but looking at the possibility of a government planned by the people, without taxes would mean no health benefits, no pensions and no help from the government. Democracy as the United States is, looks at the best interest of the people and does not exist to let the people unattended. Christie’s battle for a 1.5 percent tax imposed on teachers, cops and firefighters shows he understands this and his adherence to his mother’s advice as told by the governor himself, â€Å"Christopher, you’re going to have choices in your life between being loved and being respected. And you should choose respected.

Critically discuss the extent to which 'globalisation' is an Essay

Critically discuss the extent to which 'globalisation' is an opportunity or threat to international business - Essay Example A fundamental dynamic of our epoch driving the change processes of the 21st century, globalization is promoted and resisted in equal measure, with its management touted as the most satisfying and morally upright compromise (McGrew, 2000, p. ix). From the perspective of the radical right reaching other continents with mutually beneficial effects to the more adaptive strategies that has found favor in the mainstream politics of the Third World, the writing, which may seem obscure, is on the wall; the weight of the concept is felt in both the extremes. Indeed, as the confused ideals of globalization become more pronounced with opportunities that more than break into the hitherto insulated environments for certain ventures, the multifold risks in the enlarged business environment are increasingly taking ventures even closer to complete elimination. Put into perspective, it is most revealing that even in the face of fierce criticisms, notwithstanding how both sides of the divide conceives or rationalizes the concept, it is firmly accepted that globalization is but a reality on course (Held, et  al, 1999). ... Held, et  al, (2000) define globalization as â€Å"a set of transformative processes reorienting the spatial organization of social relations and transactions- in terms of intensity, velocity and impact- to generate transcontinental flows [networks of activity] that by and large result in the creation and the subsequent exercise of power in conformance with the new transactional model [emphasis added].† Petras and Veltmeyer (2001, p.11), echoes the same in their definition that more than captures the widening scope of the international flows that combines not only the exchange of capital, but also of technology and information within a single integrated market; a representational shift that Teeple (2000, p. 9) notes has diffused capital accumulation from single production units to integrated venues situated in different parts of the world. Observably, global flows, as Ohmae (1995, p.15) points out, are without a doubt, the basic elements of globalization found in the differe nt definitions that distinguishes our moment in history. It is clear that the new globalizing logic of the market and capital is at the epicenter of the different angles taken by the scholars already sampled. To be sure, globalization is viewed as a process that not only reconstitutes national economies, but one that restructures international engagements through building and/or the destruction of the existing relations in order to integrate the global economy into a single system. That is to say, its integrative aspect in effect involves homogenous interconnections across and within boundaries, with cooperation driving the interdependence among independent states/regions (Hurrell and Wood, 1995, pp.447-448). Noteworthy, the singularization of the global

(When I saw a lady in a ballgown....I was frankly terrified.... and I Essay

(When I saw a lady in a ballgown....I was frankly terrified.... and I wanted to call a policeman) Are woman represented as the agents or the victims of sexual - Essay Example (eNotes, 2009.) Leo Tolstoy was born at Yasnaya Polyana, in Tula Province. He was the fourth in five children. His parents died when he was a child, and he was brought up by relatives. In 1844 Tolstoy started his studies of law and oriental languages at Kazan University, but he never took a degree. Dissatisfied with the standard of education, he returned in the middle of his studies back to Yasnaya Polyana, and then spent much of his time in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1847 Tolstoy was treated for venereal disease. After contracting heavy gambling debts, Tolstoy accompanied in 1851 his elder brother Nikolay to the Caucasus, and joined an artillery regiment. In the 1850s Tolstoy also began his literary career. The title of Count had been conferred on his ancestor in the early 18th century by Peter the Great. The Kreutzer Sonata is a tale of sexual obsession and jealousy. A provincial businessman (Posdnicheff) becomes obsessed with his wifes relationship with a violinist, with whom she plays duos. The climax of his jealousy comes during a performance by his wife and her violinist partner of Beethovens Violin Sonata no.9 in A major, known as the Kreutzer sonata, after which Posdnicheff murders his wife. The idea for The Kreutzer Sonata was given to Tolstoy by the actor V.N. Andreev-Burlak during his visit at Yasnaya Polyana in June 1887. In the spring of 1888 an amateur performance of Beethovens Kreutzer Sonata took place in Tolstoys home and it made the author return to an idea he had had in the 1860s. The novel is written in the form of a frame-story and set on a train. The conversations among the passengers develop into a discussion of the institution of marriage. Posdnicheff, the chief character, tells of his youth and his subsequent remorse and self-disgust. Posdnicheff believes that his wife is having an affair with a musician and he tries to strangle her, and then

POEMS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

POEMS - Essay Example June Jordan herself a civil rights activist who fervently fight for the rights of African-Americans. Her radical beliefs and principles are vividly echoed in her poem. On the other hand, Ted Kooser’s poem sounds simple on the surface due to its terse and straightforward style. My initial interpretation of the poem is that the author is unhappily celebrating his birthday, celebrating an important day of his life alone. But when I read Kooser’s biography, my interpretation of the poem changed. When I learned that he is recognized as a poet with a remarkable grasp of metaphors I thought that perhaps the poem is not even talking about him or, specifically, his own gloomy disposition, but about the simple things that are usually taken for granted, like a book, darkness, a window. What the author, I think, is trying to convey is that these simple things can bring happiness, like the happiness that a birthday celebration can

The Beatles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Beatles - Research Paper Example John Lennon did not completely stand out on the album, although his compositions are remarkable: ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy),’ which blends into a flurry of white noise; ‘Because,’ which presents several of the greatest symphony the Beatles ever recorded; and, the groovy ‘Come Together’. Ringo, with his ‘Octopus’s Garden’, carried on with the aquatic escapade he had begun on ‘Yellow Submarine’ (Perone 32). However, it is Paul who conquers the album. He presents a satirical performance with ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ on side one. Afterward, he shows off his finest voice quality for â€Å"Oh! Darling† (Perone 32). On side two, Paul also manage the medleys, performing almost all the lead singings, starting the first medley with ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’, a gloomy depiction of the Beatles’ current financial and managerial difficulties; this shifts into the appealing, wistful ‘Sun King’ of John, then by a sequence of pen sketches: ‘Mean Mr. Mustard’, ‘Polythene Pam’, and ‘She Came in through the Bathroom Window’. All the songs were led by Paul (Womack 68). It is an exceptionally talented creation by musicians performing at the height of their careers, making it even more difficult to think that these same singers and composers would not collaborate ever again. The Beatles may not have been the first popular rock band to own and use the synthesizers of Robert Moog. Nevertheless, as soon as the Beatles had obtained a Moog synthesizer, they took complete advantage of it on Abbey Road. Moog’s synthesizer can be heard obviously on a number of songs and furnishes the album an advanced rock sound, which enhances the pop, blues, rock, and singer-composer flairs that are also present all over the album (Holm-Hudson 218). Perhaps, one of the more delicate and successful application of the Moog synthesizer of the period is in ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by George Harrison, the track

Born Into Brothels Essay Example for Free

Born Into Brothels Essay Born into Brothels is an powerful movie that documents life at the extremes. Henslin (2010) defines social stratificiation as the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative property, power, prestige; applies to both nations and to people within a nation, society or other group. With this story, Born into Brothels dares our insight of human resilience, while focusing on the lowest social class system, which is based primarily on possession of money or material possessions (Henslin, 2010) in social stratification. This documentary’s back drop is Caluctta, India, which is home to one of the oldest populations and religious doctrines in the world. Though India is a country with remarkable history, it suffers from environmental ruin, considerable overpopulation, religious strife and excessive poverty. This is a story about the power of human imagination and determination. It follows the amazing lives of eight children living in one of Calcutta’s most famous red light districts. Zana Briski, Co-Director, teaches photography to these children and tries to gain better educational opportunities for them, while capturing images of their every day lives. Born into Brothels tugs at your heartstrings, but also offers profound and soul stirring questions as to the extent that outsiders can become involved in the lives of others for the only life they know. Eight children, born into a culture of poverty, an assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children (Henslin, 2010), their caste, people’s statuses are determined by birth and are lifelong (Henslin, 2010), is there destiny, and they believe that is all they have in life. These children are born to women that have few options other than â€Å"walking the line† which is prostitution, or cleaning houses and most of the men suffer from drug abuse or alcoholism. HIV/AIDS, murder and crime are prevalent and living conditions are deplorable. In the red light district, which is it’s own city inside of a city; not only do the residents suffer in this harsh reality, every aspect of existnce is contaminated by its grave condition. In essence it is their own form of slavery, form of social stratification in which some people own other people (Henslin, 2010). The main characters are Gour, who is best friends with Puja. Gour worries that Puja will follow in the footsteps of her family. Puja’s family history is from a line of prostitution. They are regal in the district, as they eat well and dress well. Puja always shares what she has. Manik and Shanti are brother and sister and both eager to learn. Avijit, probably one of the most talented with his photography also loves to express himself in his drawings and paintings. Kochi, is a very strong little girl that suffers a lot of emotional and verbal abuse. She works doing chores from 4 a.m. to about 11 p.m. trying to make money for her family and takes her life for what it is. Suchitra is the oldest of the group. Gour is fearful that she will be sent to work the line. Suchitra’s mom died and her aunt wants to send her to Bombay to become a prostitute. Suchitra does not see a solution and is fearful to leave her home for this reason. Lastly, there is Tapasi. This little girl has resigned herself to the ideology, beliefs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements (Henslin, 2010) that the red light district has engrained into its residents. Tapasi says â€Å" one has to accept that life is full of sadness and pain† (Briski, 2004) her hopelessness as a matter of fact attitude is astounding. THEORETICAL APPLICATION: The theoretical application of this film strongly parallels the conflict theory. The conflict theory is a theory by which views society as made up of many different groups that are competing for scarce resources, focusing on inequality (Henslin, 2010). While the movie explores fundamental ideologies regarding the status of women in that society, as most women are considered second-class citizens, most marriages are arranged by families and women have almost no way of protesting. Women are routinely bought and sold as early as age eight and many are forced to come sex workers. The sex workers are socially shunned and because of this, the children are often discriminated against. Because of this reason, getting these children into boarding schools proved to be a great feat. CONCLUSION: Born into Brothels opened the windows of 8 children’s lives and their families for a short time. Their photography was and still is being sold to help pay for boarding school for the children born into the red light district. The 8 children featured were afforded opportunities that they would never have otherwise been given. We don’t need to travel to Calcutta, India to put ourselves into other people’s ‘shoes’, we can be aware of what is happening around us right here in our own city. Somewhere out there, there is a stranger, an animal, or even a friend or family member that may need your compassion and understanding. Stretch out your hand; don’t be afraid to open yourself up to the opportunity of putting a smile on someone else’s face and making a difference in the life of another. REFERENCE: Briski, Z. (Director). (2004). Born into Brothels [Motion Picture]. Henslin, J. (2010). Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. New York: Prentice Hall.

Relation between Serum Apelin Level and CAE

Relation between Serum Apelin Level and CAE Decreased Apelin Levels in Isolated Coronary Artery Ectasia M.Zihni Bilik, M.Ata Akal, Halit Acet, Abdulkadir Yaldaz, Murat Yà ¼ksel, Nihat Polat, Mesut Aydan, Mustafa Oylumlu, Sait Alan ,Faruk Ertaâ„ ¢Ã‚ ¹  ¹Department of Cardiology, Medicine Faculty, Dicle University, Diyarbakr, Turkey  Ã‚   Abstract Introduction: Etiopathogenesis of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is completely unknown. Most of CAE develop with atherosclerosis. Association of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and apelin has been examined in previous studies. In isolated coronary artery ectasia the role of plasma apelin has not been studied yet. Aim: In this study, we investigated the relation between plasma apelin levels and coronary artery ectasia. Material and methods: Study population included totally 54 patients. 26 patients with isolated CAE (53.6 ±8.1 years ); 28 patients as control group with normal coronary arteries (51.6 ± 8.8 years) and with similar risk factors and demographic properties . Apelin levels were measured using an enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) . Results: Apelin levels in CAE group were significantly lower [apelin= 0.116ng/ml (0.086-0.319) ] than those in control group [0.689ng/ml (0.077-1.067) ] (P =0.033).Glucose, creatinine,total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, HDL-C levels were not significantly different between groups (P >0.05). Conclusions: In this study we showed that patients with isolated CAE have decreased plasma apelin levels. Therefore there may be an association between decreased plasma apelin level and isolated CAE. Key words: apelin, coronary artery ectasia, atherosclerosis Introduction: Apelin is an adipocytokine and endogenous ligand for the angiotensin-like 1 receptor (APJ). The function of apelin is not clear in the cardiovascular system. Apelin may play an opposite role to the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system as a compensatory mechanism. It is reduced in patients with heart failure.[1] Increased apelin expression has been found in coronary vessels, cardiomyocytes, large conduit vessels [2] vascular smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells.[3] Some functions of apelin have been described, such as positive inotropism [4] ,endothelium-dependent vasodilation [5],cardiac contractility,[6] and the reduction of vascular wall inflammation. CAE has been defined as abnormal dilatation of a segment of coronary artery that 1.5 times larger than the diameter of adjacent normal segments of artery.[7] The incidence of CAE has been reported to account for 0.3% to 4.9% in patients underwent coronary angiography. [8] Although the exact mechanisms leading to CAE are not clear up to now, atherothrombosis, endothelial dysfunction and vasculit have been suggested as possible responsible factors. CAE has also been reported in association with various conditions such as congenital coronary anomalies, connective tissue diseases, and vasculitis and failed smooth muscle cells. [9,10] Apelin has a role in endothelium-dependent vasodilation. CAE may dependent to endothelium-dependent vasodilation mechanism. [5] So there may be relation between apelin and CAE. In our knowledge there is not any study in the literature about apelin and CAE. Aim: In this study we aimed to examine the relation between serum apelin level and CAE. Material and methods: Study population included totally 54 patients that were admitted to Cardiology Department of Dicle University. Twenty six patients with isolated CAE ( 53.6 ±8.1 years ) as CAE group and 28 patients as control group with normal coronary arteries that proven angiographically (51.6 ± 8.8 years) with similar risk factors and demographic properties to CAE group were included . Cases who had malignancy, heart failure ,acute coronary syndrome, renal disease, collagen tissue diseases, vasculitis,coronary artery disease were excluded from the study. The study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee and informed consent was obtained from each patient. Study design: All patients underwent detailed physical examination. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight divided by square of height. Clinical laboratory analyses were performed in Dicle University Biochemistry Laboratories (Diyarbakar, Turkey). Biochemical tests were performed by Abbott C16000 (USA) biochemical autoanalyzer with original kits and hematological counts were measured by an automated hematology analyzer (Abbott Cell-Dyn 3700; Abboott Laboratory, Abbott Park, IL) in peripheral venous blood samples . Standart methods were used to measure total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL),triglycerides and fasting glucose. Serum obtained by centrifuge was stored at −80 °C until analysis for apelin measurement. These were studied at the Biochemistry Laboratory of Dicle University .Apelin levels were measured using an enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) (Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., California,USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and expressed as ng/ml. Evaluation of coronary artery ectasia by coronary angiography Coronary angiography was routinely performed using the Allura Xper FD10 (Philips, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) through femoral artery by Judkins technique without use of nitroglycerine. The contrast agent was Iopamiro 370 (Bracco, Milan, Italy) that used in all patients. Each angiogram was evaluated concurrently by two interventional cardiologists who were blinded to the study and to each other. Angiographically CAE was accepted when diameter of dilated segment of coronary artery was 1.5 times larger than adjacent normal segments. Statistical analysis Data were analyzed with SPSS software version 18.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Illinois). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify that continuous variables were normally distributed. Continuous variables are listed as mean  ± standard deviation, categorical variables are listed as percentages. The independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables. Statistical significance was defined as p Results: The study was included a total of 54 patients. CAE group included 26 patients with coronary ectasia (mean age 53.6 ±8.1 years) and %73.1 (n=19) of patients were male. Control group included 28 control patients with normal coronary arteries (mean age 51.6 ± 8.8 years) and 64.3% (n =18) of patients were male. There was no difference between two groups regarding basal demographical data (P>0.05). Demographic characteristics of the groups are presented in Table 1. We found apelin levels in CAE group significantly lower [apelin= 0.116ng/ml (0.086-0.319) ] than those in control group [0.689ng/ml (0.077-1.067) ] (P =0.033). Glucose, creatinine,total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, HDL-C levels were not significantly different between groups (P >0.05). Table 1: Baseline characteristics of the study population Ectasia Grup (n=26) Control Grup (n=28) P value Age (years) 53.6 ±8.1 51.6 ± 8.8 0.38 Male n(% ) 19 (%73.1) 18(%64.3) 0.49 Hypertension n(%) 15 (%58) 12(%43) 0.18 Diabetes Mellitus n(%) 4 (%15) 6 (%21) 0.57 BMI (kg/m ²) 28.1 ± 4 26.7  ±4.2 0.24 Smoking n(%) 13 (%50) 12 (%46) 0.79 Glucose mg/dl 106 ±20 124 ±53 0.1 Creatinine mg/dl 0.86 ±0.2 0.82 ±0.1 0.38 Total cholesterol mg/dl 196 ±47 195 ±37 0.98 LDL mg/dl 128 ±42 113 ±33 0.14 HDL mg/dl 41 ±10 40 ±10 0.92 Triglyseride mg/dl 145 ±77 184 ±115 0.15 Apelin ng/ml 0.116 (0.086-0.319)* 0.689 (0.077-1.067)* 0.033 *Median and interquartile range used. BMI:Body mass index ; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL: High density lipoprotein cholesterol Figure-1: Comparison of the plasma apelin level between CAE and control group. P=0.033 Discussion : CAE has been defined as abnormal dilatation of a segment of coronary artery that 1.5 times larger than the diameter of adjacent normal segments of artery. [7] The etiology of CAE is not fully understood. Various mechanisms are thought to be the reason of CAE. Approximately a half of CAE is due to atherosclerosis of coronary artery. Atheromatous ulcerations in coronary artery or significant stenosis has been described in patients with ectasia.[11,12] Cardiovascular system is the main target of apelin and its receptor APJ . In regulation of cardiovascular homeostasis, apelin may have an important role.[13] Positive inotropism, vasodilation, decreased blood pressure and diuresis are some effects of apelin on cardiovascular system . Therefore apelin may have an antagonistic effect to the renin-angiotensin-aldosteron system .It is reduced in patients with heart failure.[1] Relation between apelin and coronary artery disease especially atherosclerosis is known. Kadoglou et al. showed that apelin concentrations are lower in CAD patients and it is negatively correlated with severity of CAD. [14]. Additionally, decreased apelin levels are observed in subjects with stable angina. Plasma apelin may have a role in the progression and destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques.[15]. Attenuation of the vessel wall has been shown by Rath et al. in nonatherosclerotic forms of CAE .In their study vessel media degeneration and smooth muscle cell replacement by hyalinized collagen with intact vessel intima has been demonstrated.[16] In the pathogenesis of CAE, loss of the musculoelastic components of the vessel media have an important effect. [12,17] Several factors other than atherosclerosis have a role in development of CAE such as endothelial dysfunction, vasculitis, congenital coronary anomalies, connective tissue diseases [9,10], oxidative stres, vascular smooth muscle proliferation, abnormal collagen synthesis and increased inflammatory response. [18] Li L. et al. showed that apelin have a regulatory effect on proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cell and nitric oxide production.[19] Nitric oxide is a potent vasodilator and plays important roles in protecting the cardiac vascular system against myocardial damage. It inhibits leukocyte adhesion ,platelet aggregation and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. [18] In some studies there was a relation between apelin and nitric oxide. It is demonstrated that in the rat model, myocardial damage significantly reduces by oxidative injury reduction and enhancement of nitric oxide production when rats treated with apelin in postinfarct period.[20] Tatemoto K., et al. reported that apelin may be present in the endothelium and reduce blood pressure via nitric oxide dependent mechanism.[21] Additionally polymorphism in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene has been explored in several studies in patients with CAE. [22] According to this ,impaired nitric oxide dependent vasodilation mechanism may consist to be the reason of ectasia. Malyszko et al. reported that in patients with transplanted kidneys apelin level is correlated with intracellular adhesion molecule, adiponectin and the presence of coronary arery disease in patients with transplanted kidneys. [23] Apelin is a member of adipocytokin like adiponectin. Dagli N. et al. examined a negative correlation between coronary artery ectasia diameter and plasma adiponectin level .[24] Also in our study we obtained similar results that plasma apelin level in isolated CAE patients is significantly lower than in controls. According to recent data adiponectin and apelin have cardioprotective effects . Despite exact mechanism is not clear it seems that, both of them protect vessel from atherosclerosis and ectasia. However, further studies are required to show the role of apelin in development of CAE. Conclusion : In this study we showed that patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia have decreased plasma apelin level compared with normal coronary arteries. According to these data we suggest that apelin may have a role in developing CAE. Limitations of the study Because isolated CAE is rare entity ,the number of cases were limited. our study have a small population. Additionally, it is an important limitation on the part of the study that intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was not conducted in the diagnosis of patients, as IVUS and autopsy can demonstrate atherosclerotic plaques in a wide area of the vessel lumen in patients whose coro-nary angiography is normal Conflict of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. References 1.Chandrasekaran B, Dar O, McDonagh T. The role of apelin in cardiovascular function and heart failure. European journal of heart failure 2008;10:725-732 2.Kleinz MJ, Davenport AP. Emerging roles of apelin in biology and medicine. Pharmacology therapeutics 2005;107:198-211 3.Ronkainen VP, Ronkainen JJ, Hanninen SL, et al. Hypoxia inducible factor regulates the cardiac expression and secretion of apelin. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2007;21:1821-1830 4.Hashimoto T, Kihara M, Ishida J, et al. Apelin stimulates myosin light chain phosphorylation in vascular smooth muscle cells. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 2006;26:1267-1272 5.Malyszko J, Malyszko JS, Pawlak K, Mysliwiec M. Visfatin and apelin, new adipocytokines, and their relation to endothelial function in patients with chronic renal failure. Advances in medical sciences 2008;53:32-36 6.Farkasfalvi K, Stagg MA, Coppen SR, et al. Direct effects of apelin on cardiomyocyte contractility and electrophysiology. Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2007;357:889-895 7.Hartnell GG, Parnell BM, Pridie RB. Coronary artery ectasia. Its prevalence and clinical significance in 4993 patients. British heart journal 1985;54:392-395 8.Yamanaka O, Hobbs RE. Coronary artery anomalies in 126,595 patients undergoing coronary arteriography. Catheterization and cardiovascular diagnosis 1990;21:28-40 9.Seabra-Gomes R, Somerville J, Ross DN, et al. Congenital coronary artery aneurysms. British heart journal 1974;36:329-335 10.Di Mario C, Zanchetta M, Maiolino P. Coronary aneurysms in a case of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Japanese heart journal 1988;29:491-496 11.Cross SJ, Lee HS, Kenmure AC, Jennings KP. Coronary artery ectasia: is it associated with myocardial ischaemia and infarction? Scottish medical journal 1993;38:28-29 12.Befeler B, Aranda MJ, Embi A, et al. Coronary artery aneurysms: study of the etiology, clinical course and effect on left ventricular function and prognosis. The American journal of medicine 1977;62:597-607 13.Lee DK, Cheng R, Nguyen T, et al. Characterization of apelin, the ligand for the APJ receptor. Journal of neurochemistry 2000;74:34-41 14.Kadoglou NP, Lampropoulos S, Kapelouzou A, et al. Serum levels of apelin and ghrelin in patients with acute coronary syndromes and established coronary artery diseaseKOZANI STUDY. Translational research : the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine 2010;155:238-246 15.Li Z, Bai Y, Hu J. Reduced apelin levels in stable angina. Internal medicine 2008;47:1951-1955 16.Rath S, Har-Zahav Y, Battler A, et al. Fate of nonobstructive aneurysmatic coronary artery disease: angiographic and clinical follow-up report. American heart journal 1985;109:785-791 17.Markis JE, Joffe CD, Cohn PF, et al. Clinical significance of coronary arterial ectasia. The American journal of cardiology 1976;37:217-222 18.Calvert JW. Cardioprotective effects of nitrite during exercise. Cardiovascular research 2011;89:499-506 19.Li L, Li L, Xie F, et al. Jagged-1/Notch3 signaling transduction pathway is involved in apelin-13-induced vascular smooth muscle cells proliferation. Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica 2013;45:875-881 20.Azizi Y, Faghihi M, Imani A, Roghani M, Nazari A. Post-infarct treatment with [Pyr1]-apelin-13 reduces myocardial damage through reduction of oxidative injury and nitric oxide enhancement in the rat model of myocardial infarction. Peptides 2013;46:76-82 21.Tatemoto K, Takayama K, Zou MX, et al. The novel peptide apelin lowers blood pressure via a nitric oxide-dependent mechanism. Regulatory peptides 2001;99:87-92 22.Arif Yalcin A, Faruk Akturk I, Celik O, et al. Coronary Artery Ectasia Is Associated with the c.894G>T (Glu298Asp) Polymorphism of the Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase Gene. The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine 2014;232:137-144 23.Malyszko J, Malyszko JS, Pawlak K, Wolczynski S, Mysliwiec M. Apelin, a novel adipocytokine, in relation to endothelial function and inflammation in kidney allograft recipients. Transplantation proceedings 2008;40:3466-3469 24.Dagli N, Ozturk U, Karaca I, et al. Adiponectin levels in coronary artery ectasia. Heart and vessels 2009;24:84-89 Table 1: Baseline characteristics of the study population Grup 1 (n=26) Grup 2 (n=28) P value Age (years) 53.6 ±8.1 51.6 ± 8.8 P>0,05 0,38 Male % 19 (%73,1) 18(%64,3) P>0,05 Hypertension % 15 (%58) 12(%43) P>0,05 Diabetes Mellitus % 4 (%15) 6 (%21) p>0,05 BMI (kg/m ²) 28.1 ± 4 26.7  ±4.2 P>0,05 Smoking % 13 (%50) 12 (%46) P> 0,05 Glucose mg/dl 106 ±20 124 ±53 0.1 Creatinine mg/dl 0,86 ±0,2 0,82 ±0,1 0.38 Total cholesterol mg/dl 196 ±47 195 ±37 0.98 LDL mg/dl 128 ±42 113 ±33 0.14 HDL mg/dl 41 ±10 40 ±10 0.92 Triglyseride mg/dl 145 ±77 184 ±115 0.15

Hawthorne :: essays research papers fc

"Young Goodman Brown", by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is thick with allegory. "Young Goodman Brown" is a moral story which is told through the perversion of a religious leader. In "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride in himself interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil, and causes him to live the life of an exile in his own community. "Young Goodman Brown" begins when Faith, Brown's wife, asks him not to go on an "errand". Goodman Brown says to his "love and (my) Faith" that "this one night I must tarry away from thee." When he says his "love" and his "Faith", he is talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his "faith" to God. He is venturing into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his unquestionable faith in God with his wife. He resolves that he will "c ling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven." This is an example of the excessive pride because he feels that he can sin and meet with the Devil because of this promise that he made to himself. There is a tremendous irony to this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his wife with the same faith he had before. When Goodman Brown finally meets with the Devil, he declares that the reason he was late was because "Faith kept me back awhile." This statement has a double meaning because his wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with the devil, but his faith to God psychologically delayed his meeting with the devil. The Devil had with him a staff that "bore the likeness of a great black snake". The staff which looked like a snake is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking unfathomable amounts of knowledge. Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they were expelled from their paradise. The Devil's staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devil's ceremony which destroys Goodman Brown's faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his utopia. Hawthorne :: essays research papers fc "Young Goodman Brown", by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is thick with allegory. "Young Goodman Brown" is a moral story which is told through the perversion of a religious leader. In "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride in himself interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil, and causes him to live the life of an exile in his own community. "Young Goodman Brown" begins when Faith, Brown's wife, asks him not to go on an "errand". Goodman Brown says to his "love and (my) Faith" that "this one night I must tarry away from thee." When he says his "love" and his "Faith", he is talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his "faith" to God. He is venturing into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his unquestionable faith in God with his wife. He resolves that he will "c ling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven." This is an example of the excessive pride because he feels that he can sin and meet with the Devil because of this promise that he made to himself. There is a tremendous irony to this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his wife with the same faith he had before. When Goodman Brown finally meets with the Devil, he declares that the reason he was late was because "Faith kept me back awhile." This statement has a double meaning because his wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with the devil, but his faith to God psychologically delayed his meeting with the devil. The Devil had with him a staff that "bore the likeness of a great black snake". The staff which looked like a snake is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking unfathomable amounts of knowledge. Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they were expelled from their paradise. The Devil's staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devil's ceremony which destroys Goodman Brown's faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his utopia.

Australians Against Further Immigration Essay -- essays research paper

Australians Against Further Immigration OUR VIEW Environment Humanitarianism Economics Health Defences Education Culture Australia's immigration policy is disastrous, proceeding as if there is no balance of payment problem, no foreign debt and no geographical or environmental constraints to population growth. Continued immigration will finally and irreversibly alter the natural and urban environment, economic viability and attitudes and culture of our nation. The people have been consulted on, or given their consent to, the interwoven policies of immigration and multiculturalism. It is now time for Australians to demand their democratic rights, reclaim their sovereignty and demand a say in the future of their nation. Australians Against Further Immigration want immigration drastically reduced to zero net. That is, out immigration numbers should merely replace those permanently leaving Australia each year - historically running between 20,000 and 30,000. At this policy of institutionalised, publicly funded multiculturalism should be scrapped. We are a non-racist organisation and attempts to convert the debate to one of race and emotion is a deliberate ploy to silence critics and avoid the real issues. We believe in freedom of speech. The philosopher Spinoza said, â€Å"In a free state every man can think what he wants and say what he thinks†. This should apply here to debates on immigration. We care about Australia and want to pass our heritage to our children and their children. We want to preserve our Australian identity. We stress that migrants already in Australia are welcome, what we are against is further immigration and the effect this in now having on social harmony. Our opposition is the pro-immigration lobby comprised of big business including the media, the ethnic lobby, churches, misguided humanitarians and both sides of politics. It is our own successive governments inflicting these policies on us and they, not the individual migrant, should bear the blame. We are concerned about the effect of immigration and multiculturalism on this country where as the pro-immigration lobby is only concerned for the migrant or their own interests. ENVIRONMENT Australia, the world's oldest and driest continent, with severe soil degradation and climatic uncertainty - a land of, â€Å"droughts and flooding rains†' already faces declining agricultural productiv... ...ars and of course it does not stop there. In a democracy, how dare our government force such changes on the Australian people without their consent, but also against their often polled opinion. IN SUMMARY:- We have a clear choice of accepting increasing immigration with the consequent exploitation of this land and a falling standard of living and quality of life, living in crowded, polluted, high density cities, with over-taxed recreational areas and intercommunal tensions and feeling like strangers in our own country. The economic consequences of an increasing foreign debt, foreign ownership and undesirable, unsustainable economic expansion, will destroy any chance of maintaining the best features of Australian life as we know it. And, as migrant numbers increase, there will be an escalating push for higher migrant intake which eventually will be unstoppable. OR Stoping mass immigration and attempting to live in harmony with our fragile environment, creating an economically and environmental sound, self reliant and self sustaining community, maintaining our quality of life and handing to the next generation a country to be cherished, and free from problems of over population.

Medicine before the Westerners :: Native Americans Health Medical Essays

Medicine before the Westerners Try to imagine the status of medicine before in North and Central America before westerners arrived here. The savages, as the Europeans often referred to them, were lucky to survive with their primitive ways. They lived in what was thought to be primal conditions, what could they offer the civilized settlers from Europe. They couldn’t have any knowledge of medicine not and live in these conditions. Certainly many settlers would have thought how much the indigenous peoples of North and Central America could have learned from them. That notion was wrong. Although the settlers thought of these people as primitive they did quickly note their good health. Some of the earliest European settlers were impressed by the robust stamina of these people in every locality. There was little evidence of disease among the Indians and it was uncommon to find fatal cancer, tuberculosis, or heart disease until modern times. There were no legends of great sickness among the Indians, of course this wasn’t true for the Europeans quickly the black plague comes to mind to mention one such epidemic. Yet given all of this it is an interesting fact, there is little written or taught, even today about the Indian medicine or the history of Indian medicine. There are no great legends of Indian medicine taught. Yet we all have heard of the earliest teachings of Hippocrates, the oath of the modern day medicine men (doctors) is named in his honor. There are others though the real story is that these savages were a wealth of knowledge about medicine. They became a resource for the settlers and were not given credit for their contributions. Although I believe even if they had been given credit, that at the time they would have just stated that the credit went to nature. The fact that their cures were derived more from nature may have been in part able to account for a great benefit that went with Indian medicine; there were few, if any acute side effects. The Cherokee’s based their concepts on medicine on their earlier meanings of the four cardinal directions and the universal circle.

Corrupt Utopian Societies Essay

Have you ever imagined living in a society where everyone is the same? Can you imagine living in a society where people don’t ask questions, they just do as they are told? Winston Smith from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Bernard Marx from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World live in worlds very similar to these. They live in worlds where corruption is scarce among the common population. Winston and Bernard are from entirely different settings; however, they have an abundance of thoughts that lead them to similar places in different stories. These thoughts and actions taken by these characters are fascinating to the reader when drawn into perspective. Few times in the two novels Winston and Bernard’s thoughts draw them close to danger within their worlds because of consequences with their dictators or government. Bernard is exiled from his society to a different continent while Winston is sentenced to death after vigorous amounts of testing and torture. It is interesting to see how these characters thoughts are so different and similar at the same time, and how they lead them to their dismay. The title of my essay relays how I think about these novels in two ways. The first one being that I believe both of the books are attempted Utopias. The second reason being that although both societies are attempted utopias they turn out being the complete opposite and result in being crooked and dissatisfying. In Huxley’s Brave New World Bernard is set as an individual from everyone else right from the start. He is classified as an alpha, but is much shorter than all the other alphas. Rumors were spread that when he was in the bottle he was mistaken as a Gamma and had alcohol slipped into his blood surrogate. Bernard became more of an individual because his peers passed judgment upon him, casting him away from the social normality. By being treated like this Bernard develops an unusual way of thinking compared to others in his world. Bernard has a desire to be excluded from the social body. He wants to pursue happiness in way that is not a part of everyone else’s happiness; he wants to create his own happiness. When Bernard is with Lenina on their first date he says â€Å"†¦the real problem is: How is it that I can’t or rather-because, after all, I know quite well why I can’t-what would it be like if I could, if I were free-not enslaved by my conditioning. † (Huxley 90). What Huxley is portraying in the readers mind about Bernard, is how he hungers for diversity among himself and his peers. He wants to know how himself and others would act if they weren’t so condemned by their conditioning. This thinking is very similar to Winston’s thoughts in 1984 when Winston goes hunting for evidence that society used to be different before the party existed. When Winston is thinking about the Party in general it frustrates him that the Party claims inventing airplanes, when he knows for a fact they didn’t. To resolve this issue in his mind, he sets out on a mission to ask someone of age who might remember. These two scenarios of Winston and Bernard’s show how they want their societies to be different, but are infinitely hopeless in doing so. While Winston and Bernard share a common situation in these two novels, so do two sub-cultures. In 1984 there was a group of people called the Proles who were sanctioned off from the outer and inner Party. The Proles were left to do as they pleased, undisturbed by the Party, for the most part. Unlike outer and inner Party members, Proles are not forced to show support for the Party. Proles are also aloud to partake in sexual acts, unlike Winston, an outer Party member, who must sneak around to participate in such acts. Now, switching over to Brave New World, we recall a similar group to the Proles called Savages who live on the Reservation. The Reservation is in New Mexico and the savages are left alone there to do what they want. They are left alone because their beliefs and impacts are far too abstruse for The World State. In these ways the Proles and Savages on the Reservation are very similar. Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New world both share intriguing similarities but there are equally as interesting differences. One of them is the viewpoint within the two novels on love and relationships. In Nineteen Eighty-Four the party abolishes anyone who commits thought-crime. Having a sexual relationship with someone falls under this category and could get you nto a lot of trouble just as Winston and Julia did. For Winston and Julia to be able to partake in even the smallest amount time together, alone and away from surveillance, they had to construct a well thought-out and thorough plan as to not get caught. On the other hand we have Brave New World where everyone is expected to have a relationship with multiple people at the same time, and move on shortly afterwards. When Lenina tells Fanny about seeing Henry Foster exclusively for the past four months, she replies â€Å"No it really won’t do. And you know how strongly D. H. C. objects to anything intense or long-drawn. Four months of Henry Foster, without having another man-why, he’d be furious if he knew†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Huxley 46). This shows quite well how frowned upon it is to not have multiple partners. Characters in Brave New World are expected to not only switch partners often and have multiple partners at one time, but also have sex after the first date. The government has conditioned the people to the point where there’s no real sensation in anything. Normal sensations such as tasting something, loving someone, and sexual intimacy do not exist in Brave New World or Nineteen Eighty-Four. Winston and Bernard both experience complicated love affairs in these novels, ones that have no feeling. Winston is brought up in his society with the idea that sex and relationships are prohibited. His relationship with Julia is short and only has one point, to be rebellious and get pleasure out of it while he can. In Bernard’s society he is conditioned with the idea that relationships should be short, and dissipate after a short while. In his vacant relationship with Lenina he has no genuine feelings for her. In these two contrasts you can see how well relationships and love have such a large impact on the stories. Relationships clearly made an impact on Winston and Bernard’s development throughout their stories. Another influence that affected themselves and their societies was literature. In Nineteen Eighty-Four Syme helped edit and create the book of Newspeak. Syme became obsessed with book and was highly knowledgeable with its contents and the reason it was being made. The Party eventually vaporized him due to the fact that he was became so informed about its reasoning and the point of even making it. A similar character in Brave New World, Helmholtz was convicted of almost the same thing. He produced a poem that encouraged too much thinking; it was too intellectual for The World State. This comparison examines how both governments in the two novels don’t want their people to induce too much thinking upon themselves, as to create a possible rebellion. This comparison isn’t directly about the two main characters, but it does have an effect on how they think. Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World have so many strong similarities and contrasts that it makes it very difficult to only pick a few and go in depth with them. These contrasts I talked about are all evidence as to how Winston and Bernard can be so similar in their worlds and be impacted in lots of different ways. Winston and Bernard act the ways they do because no matter how many dystopian society scenarios you come up with, if you become curious enough, you will seek individualism, change, and rebellion from that society.

Branding, Pricing and Distribution

The name of the company is JAL Global club. It is recognized to be an exclusive club that is committed to the JAL Group's most practiced and precious travelers. The product is termed to be very much effective just to carry upon business practices incessantly. The product of the company is providing effective lounges, baggages and quality treatment for the regular travelers. The domestic and global product branding strategy is termed to be very much effective just to make conditions highly well-versed and better than before. The club duly feels to maintain effective brand just to make clients informed regarding the same. This merely demands of looking forward for maintaining such brand image that offers a sense of satisfaction to the intended audience. The branding strategy is said to be highly effective and it supports the business to raise its effectiveness domestically and internationally. Most prominently, the aim, is just to offer best possible and well-versed products and services that are said to allure customers attention at its best possible manner. This would make sure that the business is growing and flourishing with due smoothness (Burrow, 2008). The pricing strategy so considered by the company is optimum and effective in nature. It primarily sees to it that the running conditions are supposed to be made highly supportive just to meet customer’s expectations. There stays great need to go for carrying upon business growth and progression hopefully. Pricing strategy so developed by the company is said to be very much effective just to make it in reach of the clients. Not only this, the customer’s attention needs to be made grabbed at its largest. It is surely going to influence the clients to have products and services at its best possible manner. The aim is just to go for seeing to it that the running conditions are supposed to be made managed and understood as well. All what is being demanded is just to carry upon business practices with proper effectiveness. The pricing strategy is affordable and carries effective and unique features that leads to make clients very much pleased and satisfied. The pricing strategy is said to support the branding strategy. This greater demands for seeing to it that the running conditions are expected to be made managed and hopeful. At the same time, the pricing strategy forms an effective coalition with the branding strategy. It is must go about locating far better opportunities just to make customers influenced. This tends to be very much effective just to execute business practices at its largest possible manner. This is surely going to help the organization maintain its presence in its highest possible way. Pricing strategy and branding are this much effective that attracts customer’s audience. It means a lot just to get allured towards customers with the help of offering them with unique and top-notch products. The running conditions are supposed to be made hopeful and understandable as well. The aim is just to go for carrying upon business growth and development incessantly. In this way, the customer’s attention can also be grabbed with proper effectiveness. It appears to be very much well-versed just to make sure that the business growth would be made out hopeful and better than before (Burrow, 2008). The distribution channel analysis is made out identifying the wholesaler, distributor, and retailer relationships including e-Commerce as well. All these altogether are termed to be very much effective just to make product’s accessibility very much more effective. The company is expected to go about assessing distributor’s relationships just to make customers feel good enough. The aim is just to go for seeing to it that the running conditions are expected to be made very much viable and successful. This tends to be very much effective just to execute business practices with due effectiveness. The wholesalers, distributors and retailer along with e-commerce is said to be very much successful. This tends to be very much successful just to make sure that the customer’s attention are grabbed accordingly. All what is being demanded is just to raise the growth and productivity levels. The running conditions are supposed to be made very much well-versed and supportive in approach. Not only this, the products would be made available to the customers with such well-versed channels. It is must to go for carrying upon business growth and development with due effectiveness (Lamb, 2011). A pull strategy will be used just to make out the high outlay on advertising and consumer promotion to fortify consumer demand for a respective product. This tends to be very much effective just to go for managing conditions with proper potential. The respective strategy would turn out to be very much effective just to obtain favorable outcomes. Not only this, the product so made accessible need to be very much successful. It is must to go for carrying upon business growth and progression with due effectiveness. All what is being demanded is just to run a business accordingly. The strategy is considered to be very much effective and supportive and leads to make things highly managed and understood. It is equally imperative to go for utilizing this strategy just to obtain hopeful resultants. The need of the hour states that the business growth and progression should be made out hopeful and better than before. It is being identified upon that the strategy so employed would offer with lucrative results. The distribution strategy fits the product / service, target market, and overall marketing strategy for the company. It is must go for making best possible use of distribution strategy just to better up business functions. The need is just to adopt such an effective strategy that gets fit with product, target market, and overall marketing strategy. All what is being demanded is just to make things highly managed and understood as well. With this, the company would be helped to meet customer’s expectations. The aim is just to go for making clients accessible with products, reaching target audience expectations and considering useful marketing strategy. The need of the hour states that the business growth and development should not be compromised at any cost. With this, it can also be stated that the distribution strategy need to be very much successful just to obtain far better resultants. It mainly calls for adopting effective steps just to make things managed and understood. The company is expected to understand the customer’s expectations with due effectiveness. All what is being demanded is just to realize far better resultants (Lamb, 2011). At the end, it can be stated that the marketing strategy should be very much effective just to help the business to generate effective results. It mainly calls for seeing to it that the running conditions need to be made highly managed and understood as well. It is must go for making business growing and flourishing with due effectiveness. The need is just to adopt such favorable steps that are considered to be highly effective and successful. In this way, it can also be stated that the business growth should not be compromised at any cost. It means a lot from the perspective of realizing far better resultants. With this, it can also be stated that the business growth should be made out successful.

Classroom Management Essay

Classroom rules and procedures shape the learning experience, allowing students to understand what is expected of them and foster a positive learning environment within the classroom. Rules are necessary within the classroom and society in general. The classroom is often times one of the first experiences that students have to teach them about life and expectations as members of society. For this topic, two in classroom activities and the behavioral expectations for these will be examined: the use of learning centers and cooperative learning groups. We will also consider two out of classroom activities and the behavioral expectations associated with these: field trips and assemblies. Finally, we will discuss evaluation methods that can be put in place to determine the level of understanding of behavioral expectations for these situations. For the first in-class activity, learning centers, we will first take into consideration the size of the group. Learning centers are most commonly small group activities consisting of three to four students. Learning centers should be areas in which students can complete simple tasks that support and reinforce material that is being taught in the classroom. Say, for example a class is learning about plant life. The teacher lectures on the topic and has a whole class activity that is to be completed by the end of the week. Learning centers can reinforce this topic across a wide variety of subjects. There could be a writing center in which students are given a topic such as the stages of plant growth. A math center which might include counting seeds or other plant related material and a science center that could outline the stages of plant growth would reinforce material covered in large group instruction. There could be a computer learning center where there might be a matching game, where students match stages of a plant’s life cycle with vocabulary words. Throughout all of these activities, rules of behavior would be of utmost importance. Small group activities such as these learning centers usually have minimal teacher supervision. Here is a situation in which behavioral expectations are crucial. Rules such as stay in your assigned area, complete the assigned task and assist peers in your station would be critical for students to understand. Cooperative learning groups are the second topic that will be covered. This is similar to learning centers in that students would need to assist their peers within the group, stay in their assigned groups and complete the task assigned. However, another important rule might be to complete your individual task assigned. In cooperative learning groups, many times a large topic or task is broken down into individual jobs and these are assigned to each student who researches a particular topic and comes back to the group to inform them of their findings. The first out of class activity we will look at is field trips. Field trips are an exciting part of the learning experience, often times bringing to life what has been taught in the classroom. This is an experience that mandates students understanding specific rules of behavior. First and foremost, is the rule to stay with your group. Students need to understand the importance of staying close to your teacher/other authorized school adult so that they return safely. Another rule would be to behave appropriately as the environment calls. For example, a student would behave very differently visiting a library vs. visiting an arcade. Discussion on the location that the field trip takes place would be crucial. How one should dress, what noise level is appropriate and other topics would need to be explained to students. The next out of class activity is assemblies. An assembly is an activity that requires multiple classrooms and hence, differing age levels of a school to come together. This can be a situation that is ripe for negative behavior. There are many purposes for assemblies including special appearances of community members or other recognized individuals, or award ceremonies or special recognitions. Since most assemblies include the whole school, they tend to include large numbers of people and are often quite noisy. Rules that students would need to know include keeping a moderate noise level, walking in an orderly and appropriate fashion and keeping an eye on the teacher to know when to enter and exit an area. During the assembly ceremony, rules that need to be outlined include being attentive to the speaker and participating, if appropriate. The question arises of how we can accurately gauge a student’s understanding of behavioral expectations. The old adage of practice makes perfect would be appropriate here. For situations such as assemblies or field trips, a teacher could utilize practice sessions, coaching students on appropriate behavior in those situations, even having a mock assembly or similar activity to gauge how well students understand their responsibilities in that environment. The teacher could provide tips and tricks for the students to attend to such as always keep your eye on the speaker, which shows respect for the person giving the presentation. A more tangible method might be a multiple choice test given to the class. Depending on the age level of students, scenarios could be written asking students to circle the appropriate behaviors and cross out inappropriate behaviors. Rules and procedures are a vitally important lesson taught in classrooms. They are usually the building blocks of kids becoming productive members of society.

Life for the young ladies in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” Essay

Life for the young ladies in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† was very different to how life is today in the 21st century. I hope to compare the lives of women living in these times and find if life really was easier in the time of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. To decide this I will discuss the aspects of class and the social system, education, entertainment and leisure, transport and marriage that affect these young ladies. In the book â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† there are very obvious class distinctions and strict separations between working classes and upper classes. The strictness of this class separation was such that Darcy felt he would be betraying his family to express his true feelings for Elizabeth Bennet, who he thought to be of a lower class than him. It was not acceptable in the upper classes and aristocracy for someone to have to work for their money. The Bennet ladies were in a difficult position as they were still considered to be high middle class, but did not have enough money to support themselves and to be passed down to them from their father when he died. The Bingley sisters scorned those who worked or â€Å"were in trade†, and those who had no â€Å"worthy connections†. All the characters who appear in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† seem to be very sure of what they believe their place in the order of society is. Moving around the classes was difficult and unusual because the status was inherited. Today we no longer have these severe class differences, and so who young ladies mix with has much less to do with class, what your connections are or how much money you have. Education is also another major difference between how young ladies live today and how they were living in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. When Jane Austen was writing middle and upper class girls were taught to read and write and may have learnt another language, usually French. Young ladies would not have been expected to have any further education but would have been far more highly thought of had they been accomplished in music than they would have been if they were well educated. Caroline Bingley when talking about ladies’ accomplishments says â€Å"A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the †¦ word†. Even if a young lady wished to get a better education she would have found it very difficult as universities were not open to women and she would not have been able to further a career. Today everyone is entitled to an education and many young ladies go on to have a further education. There are now many more career opportunities for educated women as they are seen equal to men and an educated woman is not thought unusual. Throughout the book the young ladies seem to have a limited amount of entertainment and leisure activities. The Bennet sisters had no entertainment out of the home unless there was a Ball happening in Meryton, and this would only happen when there were officers in the town. Young ladies were not meant to go anywhere public without a chaperone and so this also limited what they could do. The Bennet sisters amused themselves with reading, embroidery and music, having not much else to occupy their time. In the 21st century there are far more things available to entertain young ladies. Much of their time is taken up by education or paid work, neither of which were applied to the ladies in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. The range of activities available to spend free time doing has greatly increased and with the amount of transport now available, getting from place to place is no problem. Transport appears to have been quite a problem to the sisters in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. Walking was the easiest way to travel, a horse and carriage was used for longer distances. Compared with the transport in the 21st century this was all very slow and moving around the country was a major undertaking. It takes most of two days for Elizabeth to return to Longbourn from Derbyshire after hearing about Lydia and Wickham, â€Å"They travelled as expeditiously as possible; and sleeping one night on the road, reached Longbourn by dinner time next day.† Although we do not know exactly where Longbourn is we know that it would not take that long to complete this journey using todays transport. Almost all the excursions in the book have had to have been planned around transport and how easy the travel is. We would find it strange today for people to have to plan quite short journeys solely on the ease of transport†¦. Communications have also changed considerably. In â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† the only form of communication apart from word of mouth was letter writing. Today we have the telephone, mobile phones, text messaging and e- mails. Most of the views about marriage illustrated in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† have changed. This is what is said about Charlotte’s views on marriage â€Å"Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.† Marrying for love was an ideal, but not always practical. The ladies in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† were unable to support themselves, so often had no choice but to marry someone who they may not have loved but was suitable. Elizabeth Bennet, however, is very strong in the view that she will only marry for love, and condemns Charlotte for marrying for money. In the 21st century it seems expected for ladies to marry for love. I think that one of the reasons views on marriage have changed so dramatically from the writing of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† to 21st century is that women are now able to support themselves. There is no longer much need for a woman to marry a man only for financial reasons as women can now have a carreer and earn equal amounts as men. I do not think that life for the young ladies in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† was easier than life is in the 21st century, but neither do I think that it is simpler for young ladies living today. I think that aspects of the lives of the Bennet sisters was simpler than that of the lives today, but I also think that in some areas of their lives things were more pressured and difficult. The young ladies in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† were expected to have very simple aims in their lives, to find a good husband and have a family. Today young women are expected to attain a good education, maybe going onto higher education and start a carreer. They are expected to pursue this carreer and get married then start a family. However, transport and communications in the 21st century are far easier and simpler than those in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†.

Ethical issues in Health Care Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical issues in Health Care Management - Essay Example That is why it his essay I will try to present some of the healthcare issued, which I believe are of crucial importance for the functions of the healthcare system as such. It is not only advisable, but it is rather mandatory for every healthcare organization to have its own codes of ethics complying with the general ethics, procedures and policies in view of the culture and worldwide health standards. Pozgar, Santucci and Pinnella (2009) advise that designing internal written policies on ethical decision making is in the interest of all involved parties from patients, family members, the organizations providing the healthcare services, to community centers and caregivers. Having an internal ethical manual will protect both the institution and the patient and is an ideal source when ethical dilemmas occur. Many healthcare professionals face situations today, when they have to refer to previous similar cases to seek adequate advice. Ethical dilemmas in day to day operations in healthcare organizations engage researchers and managers to seek relevant case studies to learn from. Both management and medical research try to create a list of ethical issues in healthcare industry as a guidance to constructively address and handle. I think one of the most biting ethical issues in healthcare management is how to protect personal data and information about patients. Pozgar, Santucci and Pinnella (2009) explain various case studies as an example of how breach of private details can involve both the institutions and the patient into a circle of legal actions and problems. The book discusses and prepares healthcare specialists about the legal realities of ethical issues. Managers should identify and evaluate for themselves the correct and incorrect courses of actions. Preferably, for the organization’s sake the manager should have some legal background knowledge, especially when faced with complex legal dilemma. The last two – three

What is Effective Leadership within an Organisational Context Essay

What is Effective Leadership within an Organisational Context - Essay Example It seems that these characteristics are not standardized. Indeed, each leader seems to have different criteria for prioritizing organizational needs and for handling organizational crises. For this reason, the description of effective leadership may have different forms, focusing on the leader’s personal characteristics (traits), the role of leadership in transforming the organizational environment and so on. The review of the theories developed in the particular field led to the following assumption: effective leadership can exist in modern organizations but not in its ideal form. This means that even leaders who are characterized as quite successful may fail in responding to all needs of their organization. This finding can be characterized as logical since leaders, like all people, can also have weaknesses and preferences. However, there is a characteristic that differentiates successful leaders from others, non-charismatic leaders; successful leaders are able to use their weaknesses as means for promoting their ideas. The lack of flexibility of Margaret Thatcher in regard to her political decisions has been also considered as a power for supporting her ideas. In other words, in charismatic leaders, weaknesses are transformed into exceptional characteristics, contributing in the success of these leaders within their environment. 2. Effective leadership – description and analysis 2.1 Nature of leadership The last decades, the development of leadership has been rapid. The reason is that the specific concept has been highly related to the organizational development. In fact, it has been proved that leaders have a key role in the success of organizations in the international market. A wide range of leadership definitions has appeared, aiming to explain the nature of the concept and its role in the organizational performance. In accordance with a well-known description of leadership, this of Bass (1990), the most appropriate description of leadershi p would refer to leadership as ‘a group of processes’ (Bass 1990, in Northouse 2010, p.2). In the context of the above description, the leader is believed to be the center of organizational processes, and that his views reflect the views of his environment, meaning the employees. However, the above description fails in explaining the role of leader in taking initiatives, a role which is quite important for modern organizations, as analyzed further in the sections that follow. From another point of view, Northouse (2010) notes that leadership can be considered as a concept reflecting ‘a combination of special traits’ (Northouse 2010, p.2), meaning that each leader has specific characteristics, which are those that make the particular leader exceptional within his environment, both the internal and the external. The trait-theory on leadership, as described above, is quite popular, focusing on the personality of leader and not so much on his role within the or ganization. It is expected that the response of each leader to his environment will be different, in accordance with his personal characteristics, meaning his perceptions, his background and his skills. 2.2 Types of leadership in modern organization As noted above, the views of theorists in regard to leadership and its role are differentiated. Most theorists consider leadership as related more to the personal characteristics of the leader, a view promoted in the traits theory of leadership. However, there are also theorists who

Audit report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Audit report - Essay Example The two major perceptions are in line with the Audit Report’s adding significant credibility to the companies’ financial statements. A credible financial statement is a good basis for making a more informed management decisions as well as stakeholders’ decisions (Asare, 2009). Consequently, the IAASB is currently processing the enhanced auditor’s report. The IAASB’s research focuses on adhering to the different stakeholders’ demand for a more informed audit report. The new audit report will serve as a global solution to global popular demand for a change in the current audit reports’ standardized formats. The stakeholders’ audit report request is grounded on the growing complexities of the financial reports. The stakeholders include the investors, residents, managers, community, and employees. The standard audit report formats include the qualified opinion format, unqualified opinion format, and the adverse opinion format. The same board correctly affirms that international leaders must do their share to ensuring the audit report contains additional information needed by the decision makers. A more informed audit report contains additional relevant and valid information pertaining to the fairness or trueness of the finan cial report data (IFAC.org, 2013). The new audit report will include some notable changes. One of the major changes is to necessarily allow the external auditors to include comments to their audit reports (Gold et al., 2009). One of the reasons for the changes are necessary is that the comments will deliver additional relevant and valid information to the stakeholders, in terms of auditor’s specific audit responsibilities and tasks. The external auditor’s favorable comments will surely encourage the investors, community leaders, creditors, customers, and other affected stakeholders to invest or enter into any relevant business transaction with the company. In this regard, the IFAC accounting board is

The EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they Essay

The EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU; Discuss - Essay Example European Union was originally formed for seeking targeted economic interdependence after the Second World War  to make new military conflicts in the future impossible. An adjoining objective for formation of the Union was to accelerate economic growth.  Over the decades, several European countries have joined in several rounds of enlargement of the union to further the cause of the Union (Krumm and Herz, 1997). Impacts of European Union have been significant on member countries. Member states of European Union have converged to the use of a common currency, the  euro. The union is attributed with furthering the presence in European  region of freedom, security and justice. The EU Member states work together in the interior and justice policy due to the common foreign and security policy, and they also seek a common occurrence in relation to third countries.  It is asserted that the EU has exerted a greater impact on its member States than they have on the EU (Gutià ©rrez a nd Urbano, 1996). The paper evaluates this assertion by comparing and contrast the impact of European Union on the member states in comparison to the one exerted by member states on the Union. The impact of European Union has been attributed with a number of key impacts on the European Union. Meuwese (2008) mentions that member countries owe much to the unification of Europe initiated by European Union. Enemy countries have become friends, and the common market provides millions of jobs to the citizens of these countries.  The enthusiasm for this new unification process has grows from one generation to another. Trade and commerce has grown among member countries. For instance, nearly two-thirds of German exports now go to EU partner countries and so are millions of jobs in Germany.  European Union has impacted member countries by improving educational systems too. One such example is that EU’s Erasmus

Concept of Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Concept of Marriage - Essay Example People in many African countries continue to practice polygamy and according to scholars, incidents of polygamy or plural marriage are highest in West Africa, where Senegal and Ghana have the â€Å"highest level of polygamy† at between 30 and 50% of all marriages (Hayase & Liaw 300). Despite the statistics, on a global scale, the traditional marriage between one man and one woman is the most common form of marriage. Proponents of traditional marriage argue that marriage is an institution which has stood the test of time and is a fundamental social institution. They believe that marriage between one man and one woman serves a variety of social purposes including the procreation of children, the establishment of a â€Å"stable household for raising children† and the promotion of the nuclear family unit. They also establish that â€Å"children need both a male and female parent for proper development† (Kolasinski 3). Furthermore, many advocates for traditional marriage also argue that homosexuality is wrong and should not be encouraged by society. By conferring the right to marriage and the benefits of this union on same-sex couples, they argue that is exactly what society is doing. Advocates for gay marriage emphatically argue that it is a civil rights issue and since marriage bestows certain social benefits, denying gays the right to marry infringes on their rights to equality. They further argue that marriage is not intrinsically tied to procreation and point to examples of artificial insemination to prove that lesbian couples can also give birth and rear children. It is also argued that civil unions – in lieu of actual marriage – fall short of the equality standard and promote the idea that same-sex marriage is both separate and unequal. The Supreme Court in Canada recently struck down the Marriage Act on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and similar challenges are being made